Sacrifice
by DreamChild
Summary: Jealous over the relationship between S & R, Jean confronts Rogue and causes her to leave. But when Scott's life is at stake, will the rogue return and finally face her true feelings? Or will the barrier between her and Jean remain? final chapter up
1. Pain

Author's notes:

The exams are finally over! ^o^ YAY! This is my first X Men fic that I finally managed to get written. This is the first part of Torn Pages - versions of Rogue's life throughout the X Men Evolution. 

She is so my favorite character! ^^ Anyway I hope you enjoy reading and I appreciate everyone for taking the time to review this!^-^   Thank u!! 

Torn Pages Part 1: "Sacrifice"

Chapter 1: Pain

Pain 

_Is like rain_

_It fills up like the river_

_And flows like the floods_

_And yet,_

_When the sun_

_Comes out shining_

_The rain stops._

_But pain_

_Pain_

_Remains…_

***

She stood near the door, hidden in the shadows.

Watching them.

They were talking in what seemed to be low whispers.

Secrets,

That only they shared between them.

She could feel her heart beating at a frightening pace.

The stabbing feeling,

Surging through her veins.

They seemed so comfortable being alone with each other.

She tightened her grip on the doorknob causing the door to creak

Breaking the silent whispers.

From the couch, both heads turned towards the sound.

Sensing a presence, they stood up.

The door opened wide and in came Jean.

"Oh, Scott, I've been looking all over for you," she said the whole sentence smoothly, as if she'd only been there for a second.

"Hey, Jean." 

Scott smiled nervously at his girlfriend, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Rogue nodded and noting that it was her cue to go, headed towards the door.

As the door shut behind her, the smile on Jean's face disappeared, replaced by a scowl.

Glaring accusingly at Scott, she said bitingly,

"My, you two were cozy…It was obvious I interrupted something."

Scott frowned,

"Nothing's going on between us…"

"That's what you told me last time!" Jean cried, anger rising.

"I wasn't lying! Look, we were only talking – "

"About what?"

"Nothing worth keeping from you."

"Then why don't you tell me?"

"Jean! It's just – "

Scott didn't go on, tired of the accusations that never seemed to go away no matter how hard he tried to explain.

Sighing, he told her,

"The whole point is that Rogue and I are just friends. There's nothing more to it, ok?"

Which is more than I can say about you and Duncan… 

"Scott-" 

"Look, I don't have time for this. I'll be in my room finishing up on my project."

With that he walked past her and headed upstairs.

"_Scott_…"  

_It's all her fault things between Scott and me are breaking up…_.

***

"I heard that Scott and Jean are like totally mad at each other!" Kitty was telling the others as they sat in the living room, a few hours after the argument.

Rogue yawned as she put her book down,

"They'll patch things up as usual…"

"Uh-uh. This one's major! It'll probably spell disaster for their relationship!"

"You mean a breakup?" 

"Like, yeah!"

Kurt and Rogue laughed.

"That'll never happen! Those two have been together, like forever! Sure, things like that happen between them, but it always works out sooner or later," Kurt pointed out.

Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Sure, you like, say that now, but anything's possible!"

Rogue shook her head,

"That'll be the day…"

Besides, Scott's too in love with her to let her go… 

***

The night was cold but he seemed to deep in his thoughts to notice.

Leaning over the balcony, he had his gaze towards the distance.

"Hey…"

Scott turned to the person behind him.

It was Rogue.

Standing beside him, she gave him a comforting smile,

"How're you doing?"

"Okay, I guess…" 

He was smiling, but his sadness didn't escape Rogue.

"Ah'm sorry if ah messed things up between you an Jean…"

Scott shook his head as he looked at her.

"No, it's not your fault. You had nothing to do with it…"

Rogue knew that that wasn't really true.

Sighing Scott said,

"It's just that I wish she wouldn't be so stubborn sometimes…if she'd only try to understand…but she doesn't. She's probably only got that guy in her mind anyway…" 

The bitterness in his voice made Rogue long to reach out and comfort him in her arms. 

But that wasn't so, instead she told him softly,

"Ah just hope things work out between you two…"

Scott nodded.

"I hope so too…"

***

The sun was hardly awake yet as was everyone in the institute.

But someone was already up at that hour.

Walking quietly across the hall, Rogue tiptoed to Scott's room. 

Good, he's still asleep… 

Walking over to his desk, she placed something on top of it.

Turning to leave, she gazed momentarily at his sleeping form.

He looked so different without his protective ray glasses and the serious expression he usually wore when he was awake.

Like a sleeping child innocent of the dangers that lurked, Rogue reflected.

Taking a deep breath, she thought silently, 

_Ah'd do anything for you, Scott…but ah know that ah'll just never be the one in your heart no matter how hard ah try…_

_After all…there's already someone there…_

_Ah just hope you'll be happy…_

She closed the door, a sense of sadness flowing through her.

"_What are you doing_?"  

Rogue whirled around to find Jean frowning at her.

"Ah just happened to be passing by, that's all…" 

Rogue told her stiffly as she headed for the stairs, not being in the mood to argue.

But Jean was obviously not done yet as she followed Rogue from behind.

Reaching the landing, Jean grabbed Rogue by the arm.

"Either you tell me the truth or I'll call in the professor!"

Rogue glared at her.

"Ah'm telling you the truth. Now let go!"

Rogue tried to free herself but Jean held on, the rush of anger rising by the second.

She'd had enough of lies, enough of deceit, she wanted the truth and she wasn't going to wait any longer. 

She was tired of waiting, tired of having to pretend that everything was going to be all right.

Well, enough was enough.

"Liar!!" she yelled. "You were trying to steal Scott away from me!!!"

Rogue stared at her. Jean Grey had totally lost it.

Shaking off her grip, Rogue muttered,

"Ah don't have to take this…"

"Why?" Jean demanded. "Because it's true?"

"No…because you're not making any sense at all!"

Jean smiled menacingly,

"I know I'm making sense. You just don't want to admit it!!"

"Admit _what_??"

"Don't play innocent with me! Admit that you've fallen for him, that's what! Oh, yes, I've seen how you look at him, how close you two are whenever I'm not around…You've been planning to have him all to yourself since the very beginning!!!" 

Rage was beginning to burn inside Rogue.

"You're accusing me simply because ah was the one he found comfort in whenever he was having trouble! ME – not you!!"

"That's because you were turning him against me!! If you hadn't come in the first place, none of these things would be happening!!"

Rogue narrowed her eyes,

"You just don't get it, do you? You obviously broke Scott's heart when he saw you and Duncan together…you're not exactly the perfect girlfriend Scott deserves!!!"

Jean gapped at her, still refusing to back down.

"Duncan has nothing to do with this…It's you! Everything is all YOUR fault!!!!"

"Ah –"

"You're so pretentious! Pretending to have such a hard life, pretending to go through pain when you don't really know what it is…making such a big deal about your _cursed_ powers, as if that makes you so different than the rest – wanting everyone to feel sorry for poor little you!!

Well, let me tell you – you don't fool me! I know who you really are! I know

That all this time you've been putting up an act just to get what you want!! You-"

She stopped as Rogue slapped her hard right across the face.

The echo of silence hung in the air.

Rogue was shivering with anger, her breath heaving. 

She glared dangerously at Jean and spoke in a low voice, 

"You don't know…you don't know me at all…"

With that she rushed out of the door without a second glance, leaving Jean to stare, dazed, her hand on the spot where she had just been slapped.

She'd finally managed to hurt her.

She'd wanted that more than anything.

She didn't care because she'd wanted her to feel as bad as she did.

Now that she accomplished that,

Why was she feeling this awful?

***

Chapter 2 coming up! ^^

.

    


	2. Reasons

Author's notes:

I must be having after exam fever! ^o^ I wrote for almost the whole day!

Anyway just a few notes before the story…I own the twins in this story but since this story is more on Rogue and the others, I won't be focusing on them ^^; Since I wasn't really concentrating on them I just hope they still come out alright. ^_~ Thanks for the reviews!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Torn Pages Part 1: "Sacrifice"

Chapter 2: Reasons

_Reasons._

_Do you believe in reasons?_

_The reason behind everything_

_Every being?_

_The reason things happen_

_The reason they don't?_

_Reasons_

_That flows endlessly _

_Like the river's bend_

_Reasons_

_That comes to surface _

_Only in the end…_

***

You don't know…you don't know me at all… 

"How could you? You of all people should have known better!!" 

Everyone was awake now, crowding around Jean after Rogue had left. The professor, Logan and Ororo weren't there having left for matters to attend the other day.  

Evan and Kitty had arrived at the scene just in time to witness the last part of the incident where Jean had said things she shouldn't have said and where Rogue had stormed out the door.

Kurt was angry because Jean happened to be the cause of the whole thing.

Jean had her head buried in her hands as she let everything sink in.

Though part of her was feeling she shouldn't have done what she had done, another part of her was too stubborn to admit it.

"She's probably going back to the Brotherhood," she muttered.

The other's looked at her in despair.

"I don't think so…she found out she didn't belong there because she belonged …here…" Kitty said softly.

"Yeah and thanks to you, she probably thinks she doesn't belong anyvhere now!" Kurt told Jean.

Scott shook his head,

"Why'd you do it Jean? It's not like you…"

Jean glared at him.

"I was mad because of the whole you and her thing, okay! Then I caught her coming out from your bedroom…and that just blew me up!"

Everyone kept quiet.

"So you decided to say all those horrible things to her? You know vhat a hard time she's been going through!" Kurt said angrily.

Then he shook his head, 

"No, let me rephrase that, you _don't _know."

"I just – " 

"She probably wanted to give me this," Scott interrupted, holding up an envelope.

"I found these on my desk."

They reached into the envelope and found a note with two tickets in it.

"Hey, these are the tickets to the big concert Rogue asked me to get the other day!" said Evan recognizing the tickets.

"Ohmigosh! Listen to this!" Kitty said, frantically waving the note.

"It says; _Scott I know you're probably wondering why I even bothered to do this…but well, I know things between you and Jean have been stormy lately…so in a way, I hope these will be able to help you start things over again…Rogue._"

      

For a moment no one spoke.

Jean's eyes were wide as she grabbed the note from Kitty and reread the whole thing again.

"She wouldn't – why would she?" she choked.

"Because she vas selfless…unlike you…" Kurt muttered, turning his gaze away from her.

"This has, like been so big a misunderstanding!" groaned Kitty.

"We've got to get her back!" said Evan.

"Rogue…" Scott shook his head.

Jean remained silent, letting everything sink in again.

What have I done? 

Suddenly the alarm went off. Someone was breaking in.

"What?! At this hour?"

Scott stood up,

"Everyone lets go!"

"Vhat about Rogue?"

"Will deal with that after we deal with this," Scott reassured him. 

"_Knock-knock, anyone home?_" a voice boomed as the main door blasted open.

It wasn't the usual Brotherhood, instead 2 teenage mutants walked in.

One was a boy and the other was a girl. Both had white blond hair, and it was obvious they were twins. 

The X Men shook their heads, recognizing the two from one of their recent battles.

"Oh great, not the 'Terror Twins' again," frowned Shadowcat.

"What's it now?" Spyke asked.

The twins laughed.

"We're here to settle unfinished business," Tristen told them.

"And the only way to do that is to take all of you down!" Trieste smiled gesturing her hand towards Cyclops. A beam of light escaped from her hand and lunged towards him but blasted back as he used his optic beam.

Tristen started shooting poisonous needles from his hand towards the others. One nearly went through Shadowcat but she phased through just in time.

"This is just a warm up, now for the real thing!" 

The twins held hands and focused their psychic energy.

"What the-" 

The X Men suddenly felt glued to the ground, the air around them heavy.

"They're using a psychic energy field to hold us down!" Jean cried.

"If I can only – " She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, trying to penetrate the barrier.

"_That's not gonna work_," said Trieste, focusing her energy on Jean.

"_Two against one isn't gonna do you any good_…" 

Jean cried out in pain as the flow of psychic energy overloaded her mind.

"It seems we have to deal with you first!" 

Tristen shot the poisonous needles towards her but she managed to hold them back with her force.

"Jean!!!"

_I can't hold on much longer…_

_If only I hadn't turned her away…_

Losing her focus the needles flew right at her.

"JEAN!!!!"

Jean watched in horror as Cyclops burst through the psychic field and shielded her from the poison thorns. The needles went right through his arm as he fired a powerful blast at the twins causing their psychic energy to break.

Free at last, Spyke shot his spikes at them, succeeding in wounding Tristen as Trieste fired back at him sending him to the floor.

Exhausted of their powers, the twins decided to retreat.

"This isn't over yet!" cried Trieste as she carried her brother out of there.

"Scott…"

"Is he all right?" they asked.

Jean shook her head, inspecting the wound.

The poison from the needles was already flowing through his body.

Only the twins had the cure…

***

Scott was put in bed while the others discussed of what to do next.

"We have to find them and force them to give us the cure!" Evan was saying.

"How're we gonna do that?" Kitty sighed.

"For one thing we can't sit around and wait for the professor to arrive…it'll be too late by then…" Evan pointed out.

Jean was quiet, her eyes blank of emotion that moment.

_He risked his life for me…_

"I for one am going to do something about this," Kurt said getting up.

They looked at him questioningly.

"I'm going to find her…and bring her home."

"Kurt," Jean began.

He shook his head. 

"If it's obvious you're not going to look for her, then I'm off."   

With that, he was gone.

***

Kurt shivered.

The air in this part of town was rather chilly.

They were only old buildings and many of them abandoned.

A place he knew Rogue would want to be alone in.

She would be here.

She wouldn't go back to the Brotherhood.

Shadows passed through the spooky darkness but Kurt wasn't bothered by it as all he was focused on was finding Rogue.

She'd always been there for him and between the both of them they shared some kind of special bond.

Like brother and sister.

Now he wasn't going to give up on her.

She had a home,

A place she belonged.

And that place was with them.

He sighed, still feeling slightly mad at Jean.

_She just doesn't understand…_

After going around for an hour, he finally stopped in front of an old abandoned church.

Something drew him to it and deep in his heart he knew.

"Rogue?"

A figure on the floor beneath a stained painted glass window looked up.

"…Kurt?" she asked, surprised.

"Rogue! Thank goodness!" he cried as he ran up to her and gave her a hug.

Rogue laughed, careful not to absorb his powers.

"Hey, easy there!"

"It's just…" the smile on his face faded as his voice trailed off.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked at her.

"Something awful happened…Oh, Rogue! You've got to come back!"

Rogue stared at him for a moment than stared at the floor.

"Ah'm not going back…ah don't belong there…ah'm…not wanted…"

"Yes you are! Forget about vhat Jean said! _Ve_ need you!"  

"Ah'm sorry Kurt…it's just – "

"Scott's life is in danger! If you don't come, he'll – "

Rogue stared at him.

"What's happened to Scott??"

"The Terror Twins came and Scott got hit by Tristen's needles…" Kurt explained.

Worry and concern clouded Rogue's green eyes but slowly she shook her head,

"Jean wouldn't want me there…it's better if ah just stayed away."

Kurt frowned at her.

"Vhat are you saying? At this time – "

"He's right Rogue. We do need you."

Kurt and Rogue stepped back as a figure stepped out from the shadows.

"Jean?"

Jean caught Rogue's distant gaze as their eyes met.

"Rogue…"

Rogue turned away.

"If it's another one of your insults, Ah'm not in the mood to hear it…"

   

Despair entered Jean.

She'd hurt the girl badly and she knew that nothing could ever heal the scar completely.

Taking a deep breath she said,

"I…I know I shouldn't have said what I'd said and that I know you wouldn't believe me if I said I was sorry…but, Rogue…I am. I am sorry."

Rogue didn't move.

Jean sighed, 

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness…but please, please come back Rogue. If not for my sake, then do it for…Scott." 

Silence.

Finally Rogue spoke up, her voice a near whisper but a clear echo in the dim halls.

"He loves you, you know…"

Jean nodded slowly, feeling ashamed and regret.

"I know…"

For a moment, only the drops of water falling through the ceiling echoed.

Rogue gazed at the dim light that shone through the painted windows reflecting the colors on the floor.

Then she closed her eyes absorbing the peaceful atmosphere. 

Searching, 

Searching within her.

_It's time…_

_Time to let go…_

Jean watched as Rogue came out of her thoughts and walked steadily towards her.

She felt the light breeze as Rogue walked past her saying,

"We can't keep looking back at the past…what's important is the present and looking towards the future."

Then she stopped and turned to face Jean, a sort of sad smile on her face.

"What's important now is saving his life…"

With that she walked on again.

Jean was staring at the floor, her eyes closed she nodded, whispering,

"Yes…that's all that matters now…"

Gently, she wiped away the silent tears. 

***

Ok…I'm exhausted…chapter 3 and Torn Pages part 2 coming up soon! ^.^


	3. Broken barrier

Author's notes:

I had some trouble with this chapter, had to change some things over before putting it up  …^^; 

Anyway it's done now and I'll be working on the next chapter right after this.

Once more, thank you for taking the time to read my fic and for all the wonderful reviews ^o^!

***

Torn Pages Part 1: Sacrifice

Chapter 3: The broken barrier

There stands A wall 

_A barrier_

_Between you and me_

_A barrier_

_That separates_

_That keeps _

_Us apart_

_A barrier_

_Of distances_

_Of coldness_

_That we dare not cross_

_A barrier_

_That was built_

_Brick upon brick_

_By both you and me_

_A barrier_

_That we'll tear down_

_That we'll break away_

_Today…_

_A barrier_

_Between us_

_Broken…_

***

Rogue sat next to the bed that Scott rested in.

She'd been greeted by both worry and concern by the others as soon she came back to the institute with Jean and Kurt.

After that, she came up to see how Scott was doing.

Scott didn't look so good.

Sadness washed over her as she saw how pale and in fever the fearless leader of the X Men was.

She could hear his heavy breathing as he lay there.

Breathing,

Breathing in and out as his though his life force seemed to be falling away from him by each breath he took.

Helpless,

That was what she felt as she sat by his side.

Helpless to relieve him of his pain and the agony he was going through. 

Scott… 

Gently touching his face with the tip of her gloved fingers, the moment of when he had encouraged her to go on even if all seemed at loss flashed back in her mind.

"_If you still have the strength left to fight, then go on! Nothing is over until it is over…"_

That's what he had told her, that's what he had made her believe.

That's what he had done as a leader.

And

Yes, he'd always been there for her,

Understood her…

That was why she had fallen for him...

_And now_…

It's my turn to return the debt… 

"Ah won't let you leave us this easily," she whispered. "Just hang in there…"

Getting up, she slowly walked towards the door.

Taking one last look at him she thought,

_We'll be here when you wake up,_

_All of us…_

***

The wind hollered across the decayed territory, lifting and flinging in its path the dust and dead dried leaves. 

Rising higher and higher, into the thick grave air that loomed with the fair warning of destruction ahead.

Something else lingered in the hollow echoes of the crying wind, something that threatened to rip the doomed silence apart.

Feelings,

Feelings of those who stood there,

Mixed and in waiting.

The twins stood up on an uphill mound, staring down at the other three before them.

Evan and Kitty had stayed at the institute to take care of things back there while the others came to face the Terror Twins.

"I see you didn't waste time for a rematch," clacked Trieste, the hint of mock pure in her voice.

"Where are the others? Chickened out?"

"We came for the antidote," Jean said bluntly. Neither she nor the others were in any mood for pointless bickering.

Tristen raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"What makes you think we'll give it to ya that easily?" he asked coolly.

"Because ya will," Rogue told them, her cold green eyes flashing with a dead serious look that caused the twins to shudder slightly.

"Not if you we beat ya first!"

The twins laughed as they levitated off the ground hand in hand they began their combination of psychic power.

"Oh, great. Their doing it again!" groaned Nightcrawler as he felt the energy drawing him and the others to the ground.

Rogue ducked just in time as a beam from Trieste barely missed her shoulder.

She sighed, Scott's life hung in the balance of time and here they were stuck like glue, easy bait for their enemies.

Trieste blasted at them again with numerous beams and not able to evade all of them at once, they got hit – hard.

Jean eventually managed to hold back the beams with her power but at the moment the twins had twice the psychic energy she had meaning she wouldn't be able to last out much longer.

_If is this keeps up they'll shut us out like a night lamp and the whole point of this battle would be meaningless…_

Rogue could hardly contain her frustration, as she stood there – frozen to the ground as dust rose from it surrounding her and blurring her vision.

She clenched her fists.

_Ah can't take this anymore! If Ah don't do somethin' we're gonna lose…and Scott will…_

_Scott will…_

At that moment, the exact same thoughts seemed to echo in both Jean and Rogue's head.

_No…_

_Scott's life depends on this…_

_No way are we gonna give up this easily!_

Both thoughts seemed to bond into one as both girls turned to each other.

Jean and Rogue, once in constant dislike ness for each other, had now a similar goal.

They exchanged knowing glances,

A firm line of understanding flowing between them

Forget what had happened between them; forget the pain that had been caused between them, the differences and everything…all that mattered now was saving his life.  

Jean nodded as Rogue gave her a 'thumbs up' sign.

Focusing her attention back to the twins she gave it all she got to hold them down,

To break their psychic field with just enough time to be able to move freely throughout the area.

She felt the burning pain surge through her mind but she ignored it, having put her trust in her teammates.

For a moment the twins faltered but overcame it by raising their powers against her and she knew that if this went on much longer she'd be thrown back.

Just in the dearest moment of the breaking second, having taken complete advantage of the brief situation, Nightcrawler appeared behind the twins with Rogue.

Reaching for the youngest of the twins, Rogue placed both her hands on Trieste's forehead.

The psychic force struck that surrounded the twins struck at her arms but the pain had little meaning as she absorbed the girl's life force wielding it into her own.

Trieste cried out, her eyes blank as she collapsed into Rogue's arms.

The psychic link was broken.

Tristen stared in shock at his sister's state and tried to reach for her but in a flash Nightcrawler had transported them safely to Jean's side.

Scowling and glowering with dark anger, Tristen raised his hand to shoot out his treacherous needles but failed to do so as Jean warned him,

"Unless you give us the antidote I don't think we can ensure your sister's safety. We'll only leave once we have get what we came for - the choice is yours."

Tristen looked helplessly at his twin, hesitating.

As the elder one of the twins he'd taken it as his responsibility to look out for them, vowing to protect her from any harm that might come to her even at the risk of his life.

She'd always protested saying she was old enough to take care of herself, but despite that, she was and always would be to Tristen his little sister that still needed him. 

He wouldn't let her down,

Not now not ever.  

Taking a deep breath, Tristen slowly nodded.

"Okay…you win. I'll give you the antidote, just let her go."

They nodded in agreement and using Trieste's own powers, Rogue sent the young girl into her brother's arms as he gave up the antidote.

Succeeding in getting the cure in their possession, the X Men proceeded to leave.

Tristen watched as they left, feeling the cold emptiness of the wind blowing against his face.

Gazing at his unconscious sister in his arms he gently whispered,

"Lets go home now…"

Slowly, he walked away from the battle scene, leaving the place empty and alone with its silence once more.

***

Continued in chapter 4…  


	4. Goodbye

Part 1 Torn Pages: Sacrifice

Final chapter: Saying goodbye

***

Time to face the music 

_Time to wake up from the dream_

_The breaking of a fallen twig_

_The fading of a knowing gleam_

_Time to get over_

_What I felt for you forever_

_Time to say goodbye_

_To face the dreaded lie_

_I'm sorry_

_But there's no need to worry_

_Cause you don't ever _

_Have to know_

_How my heart felt sorrow_

_When I had to say goodbye_

_Had to say goodbye…_

_Goodbye to love…_

***

Scott… 

_Wake up, Scott…_

Voices,

Echoes,

Whispers.

Calling him,

Asking him,

Wanting him,

To awaken from his sleep.

Scott stirred. For a moment all he saw was a big blur which gradually came into focus. Reaching, he recognized the protective glasses over his eyes. Yes, the object that always kept him from hurting others and his self. Yes, he was awake, out of dreams and in the land of the living.

"Scott, how're you feeling?"

Scott smiled. Recognizing the familiar voice and the familiar faces that surrounded him.

"Hey…" 

They smiled back at him, their faces glowing with both joy and relief.

"Glad to have you back man," grinned Evan.

"Hey, like, you're finally awake, sleeping beauty," giggled Kitty.

"See, I told you there was nothing to verry about," smiled Kurt.

Jean and Rogue nodded, smiling quietly.

"Rogue, you're back," Scott said with a bright smile on his face as he noticed her.

"Ah'm glad to see you too," Rogue laughed softly.

They talked some more before leaving Scott to rest. Soon, his side left only Jean and Rogue. But Rogue got up to leave the room, smiling,

"Ah'll let you two be alone now."  

"Wait up," called Jean as she got up to follow Rogue and told Scott she'd be back in a moment.

Outside, Rogue looked questioningly at Jean. 

"If this is about the whole Scott thing…Ah'd just like you to know that ah…"

Jean shook her head.

"No, It's not about that. I mean, I know about what you tried to do for me and Scott…about the tickets…"

Rogue gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh, that…"

"Well," Jean smiled. "I want to apologize again for the way I acted before and to say thank you."

"It's really no biggie, and besides, apology already accepted."

 Nodding her head towards the room, Rogue smiled knowingly, 

"Now go on already, Scott's waiting."  

Jean blushed slightly. Just before she prepared to reenter the room, she called out,

"Hey, Rogue…"

"Yeah?"

"We make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

Rogue grinned and nodded in reply.

Smiling, Jean whispered to her before finally disappearing,

"_Thanks, friend_…"

 ***

Rogue leaned back against her chair, stretching out her arms as she brought them back again, resting her chin in her hands as she sat staring at the silent sky from her bedroom window.

She sighed and shook her head.

_Yes…_

I made the right decision… It's better this way… 

A sad look reflected in her green eyes as she recalled what she had decided after the whole Scott incident.

To forget about… 

_Whatever it was I felt for him…_

_To finally let go…_

_And let free this feeling._

A picture of him floated through her mind causing her to wonder again. But then, another image appeared – an image of Scott and Jean. 

Taking a deep breath she assured herself once more that everything would be fine, that she was doing it for their sake and for own sake as well. 

_I don't need to feel that way,_

_I never needed it anyway,_

_After all, I am a rogue…_

_I'm never gonna let myself be associated with that kind of feeling anymore…_

_I'm saying goodbye,_

_Goodbye to love…_

Nodding and not having any more second thoughts, her decision was final. Getting up, she decided to head downstairs to get herself a drink. Just then, Kurt suddenly appeared before her causing her to fall back in surprise.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She cried, clutching at the place where her heart was.

Kurt gave an apologetic grin as he helped her up. "Sorry didn't mean to scare ya…"

"Right…" she rolled her eyes. "Never mind that, what's up?"

Kurt tilted his head as he looked at her with those wide eyes of his.

"You."

Rogue stared back at him, frowning slightly.

"Me?"

Kurt nodded, his face set with concern.

"…I know how you feel about Scott…"

Rogue stood there, unmoving. Then slowly, head down, she murmured softly,

"There's nothing to say about it now…Ah'm…over it."

She paused, before continuing, "As long as he's happy, that's all that matters…"

 Kurt wasn't convinced.

"But are you?"

Rogue lifted an eyebrow, 

"What?"

"Are you happy?"

For a moment, Rogue could only look at him with a silent expression.

Slowly, a smile lifted on her face.

"Of course…"

With that, she turned the doorknob open and walked out of the room leaving Kurt to gaze at her.

_Of course ah'm happy…_

She kept her hands to her side as she walked quietly down the stairs, not wanting to reach out and wipe away the silent tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

***

_End._

What? The end?! Well, it is the end of Part 1, but there's still part 2 ^^ 

What's gonna happen when Rogue decides that she doesn't ever want to have anything to do with love? Will it be as easy as that? 

All these questions answered in Torn Pages Part 2: (I'm still figuring out the title for it…) 

Thanks again for taking the time to read and review my fic – I totally appreciate it! ^_^


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